Beauty and the Techie 4: The Lost Island
by princessyuki08
Summary: Last story for Beauty and the Techie. Bianca, Riley, and the rest of the team have gone missing looking for a treasure from a clue in Cairo, and it's up to their kids to find them. Both old and new characters are in the story. Adventure, romance, family, and the lost island of Atlantis.
1. Chapter 1: Clue in Cairo

**AN: So, one last story for Beauty and the Techie. I hope you guys enjoy it.**

**Chapter One: Clue in Cairo**

**_Three Years Ago_**

**_Riley's POV_**

_"Emma, Emma, okay I get it. Big discovery, clue, boat load of treasure if the clue leads somewhere. What do you want us to do about it?" I asked her. I hadn't heard from her in years. Apparently she and her team had found something in Cairo and that her team had been slowly disappearing._

_"Come down here and look for the treasure." She retorted, "This is your line of work, is it not?"_

_"My line of work is in criminology, this is a side business."_

_"That makes more money than your actual job does."_

_"You're not convincing me to help you."_

_"We're family, Riley." Emma replied, "Full-blood siblings. You should help me because I'm your sister and the only time I ask for help is when I need it."_

_"Alright. We'll be in Cairo as soon as we can."_

_"Why are we going to Cairo?" Bianca asked as she headed into the study with a case file._

_"My sister and her team found something and the team keeps disappearing." I replied. _

_"We're gonna need a team of our own then." Bianca replied._

_"You're right." I agreed, "The kids, they stay here though. People have been going missing. It's safer if they stay behind."_

_Bianca nodded, "So we're probably thinking Ben, Abigail, Aaron, Alyssa, John, and Tess?"_

_"Can you stand to be around your sister for that long?"_

_"We're getting better." _

_I scoffed._

_"Okay, we're not, but she's handy to have on the team."_

_I nodded in agreement, "Know a fast way to get to Cairo?"_

_"I have a friend who owes me a favor and he's a licensed pilot."_

_"That'll work."_

**_Jeanette's POV _**

_"See you in two weeks." I hugged my parents' goodbye. They were going on some type of treasure hunt or something._

**_Zach's POV_**

_"Are you sure I can't go with you?" I asked, "I could help."_

_"I'm sure you could, but not this one." Mom replied, "This one's a little too dangerous. We're not even letting Carissa near this one."_

_"You're better off here." Dad added, "There's not a lot to do technologically with this one anyway."_

**_Carissa's POV_**

_"Do you really have to go?" I asked them. This was my first time watching the two of them by myself. The last time they were left alone they had Aaron. This time it's just me staying behind. I haven't talked to either of them in years._

_"You'll be fine, Carissa." Dad replied and they left._

**_Two Weeks Later_**

**_Third Person POV_**

_The day was just like any other, a normal day in January. The three Poole children were in school. Zach and Carissa were almost done with their day. Jeanette had a couple more hours to go. Zach was stuck in Geometry, the poor thirteen year old wanted to hit his head against the wall out of boredom as his teacher droned on and on about sign and cosign, a topic which Zach had no idea why it was important in life and where it was using it, it was, to him, a waste of time. Carissa, on the other hand, was in English 12, the eighteen year old was watching the clock until the class released, she had a new routine she wanted to try with the other cheerleaders, she was cheer captain this year and she was going to make sure that they won state championships this year._

_Little did they know, Carissa and Zach were going to dismissed from classes sooner than they thought that day, not for the a happy occasion, and they would be going home to an empty house with only Jeanette coming home that evening._

_"What did you do this time, geek?" Carissa snapped as she ran across her brother, Zach._

_"I put a virus in all of the computers which affected every technological system and database in the school just to ruin your whole day and first spring semester practice with your goon squad." Zach retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Carissa glared annoyed, "What did you and the moron brigade do? Put Mrs. Leaderman's car on the roof? No, no. you girls decided to a flash mob in the cafeteria and steal forks." Zach guessed with false excitement, talking to her as if she were a little girl, and then rolled his eyes, shaking his head out of annoyance and doubt. He didn't think she was intelligent enough to even think of those things. Carissa was the type to get by on her looks, and her life was perfect because of it._

_"So if you didn't do anything and I, obviously,-"_

_She was cut off by Zach mockingly, "Obviously"_

_She ignored him and restarted that part of the sentence, "I, obviously, didn't do anything. Why were called to Mrs. Leaderman's office?"_

_"If I had known, I would have told you. I honestly have no idea." Zach replied as they walked into the principal's office. They went over to Mrs. Square's desk._

_"Hi Mrs. Square, we got each got a note to see Mrs. Leaderman. Should we sit and wait for her to call us in, or do we just go in?"_

_"You both may go in. They're waiting for you." She replied not really looking up at them, which was odd, she always was very good with eye contact when talking to people. They both thanked her and went into Mrs. Leadermen's office._

_"Sit down Mr. Poole, Miss. Poole." Mrs. Leadermen instructed. They both sat._

_"Did we do something wrong, mam?" Zach asked confused. Mrs. Leadermen shook her head and sighed, before starting to unfold the tragedy that has happened upon them._

_In that half hour session, Zach and Carissa's worlds came crashing down and their lives as they had known them were gone forever. Their family had gone missing near Bermuda Triangle, while they were looking for their most recent treasure. Their family was presumed to be dead, leaving them with insurance and their financial needs, not wants or impulses, but needs for the most covered, however though they died with only one of them having a will and the person that was left to take care of them was presumed to be dead with them._

_I will not lie and say Carissa's first thought was about what would happen to Jeanette or Zach, they were an afterthought. An eighteen year old could not take care of a thirteen year old and an eleven year old. That just didn't happen. And the social worker that would come straight after the funeral to talk to Carissa about taking them away would try to explain that._

_Jeanette sat, dressed in a black velvet dress, black tights, and black mary-janes, in front of the television watching home movies. The funeral went by slow to the small procession that had attended. No one had wanted to say goodbye to the beloved couple. The gathering after the funeral held few guests, just Jeanette, Zach, Carissa, a few friends of their mother's and father's. The last guest was uninvited and came after the gathering had dispersed. The last guest, Agent Sadusky, was walking out the door as she came to ring the doorbell._

_In the beloved Disney movie, Lilo and Stitch, there is a quote that sticks with you till the end, 'Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.' Family is one of the most precious things in the world._

_When the social worker, Dr. Stephanie Carson, walked through the door of the Walsh household she was determined that Jeanette Elizabeth Poole and Zachary Sherlock Poole was to be put in the care of social services. There was absolutely no way eighteen year old Carissa Marie Poole could take care of both an eleven year old and a thirteen year old. She didn't care where thirteen year old Zachary Sherlock Poole ended up; he was a troubled teen who could take care of himself as far as she was concerned. Her goal was to put young Jeanette into foster care._

_When Carissa was presented with the question of who was to take was care of Jeanette, was short, blunt, and to the point, "There is no question of who's going to take care of Jenna and I thank you for your time, but I will take care of Zach and Jenna. I have the financial ability and needs to take care of her. Jenna and Zach are not going to a foster family, they won't understand them. They need to be with people who understand how they think; they need to be with people who love her. If they're put with another family, they won't have a life. They'll move from family to family."_

_"Did you know that the child victim rate of children under eighteen is per thousand children of each state population? So, Washington D.C's would be around 630,000. Only 20 percent of the 630,000 are ever adopted, 60 percent of the children are actually reunited with their families. The numbers vary with each state, but why do it?" Jeanette contemplated aloud, after overhearing their conversation as she was trying to get into the cookies that had been put up, when she had gotten a couple she came out of the kitchen._

_"Why do what?" Dr. Carson stuttered lightly, surprised from tone coming from such a young girl._

_"Why try to take me away? I know Carissa's not the best caretaker ever, she can't take care of a goldfish for more than a couple of days, but that's okay because humans aren't fish and she's got us. Zach and I will be there to remember what she forgets. We're going to stick together because that's what people do during tragic events, they don't fall apart. 'A house divided cannot stand.' Taking one of us would hurt all of us, it wouldn't help and there wouldn't be a reason for it."_

_"It's the-"_

_Carissa cut off Dr. Carson, knowing full well what she was going to say, "law, but we have the money we need to take care of all of us, we have insurance money, and you have better things to do with your time than to take children from their homes and a family who can properly take care of them. Right now you could be helping a child in an unfortunate situation to a better home. Now if you don't mind-"_

_Zach cut her off abruptly, going over to the door and opening it, "Leave"_

_With a humph, Dr. Carson went out the door. She was never to be heard from again after that. The small little broken family after that became one step closer to becoming an actual family that day._

**_A Couple of Weeks Ago_**

_The FBI looked for them for three years before they were presumed legally dead and there was nothing the three of them could do about it. The day they were declared legally dead, Carissa locked herself in her room._

_"Carissa?" Jeanette knocked on Carissa's door, while Zach dealt with the guests who were paying their respects. "Please, I know you're in there. People are asking where you've been. They say "have courage"; and I'm trying to. I'm right out here for you, just let me in. The three of us, we only have each other. It's just you, me, and Zach. What are we gonna do? Do you want to build a snowman?" Jeanette sat outside the door._

**_A Week Ago_**

_"You think what?" Jeanette asked confused._

_"I think they're still alive." Carissa repeated._

_"Think about it, Carissa, if you can. I know thinking is a very hard thing for you, but try." Zach replied, "If they were alive they would have found a way to let us know."_

_"What if they're alive and they can't?" Carissa pointed out, "They said themselves they were on a dangerous treasure hunt."_

_"Why bring this up now?" Jeanette asked._

_"Because now all of us were old enough to do something about it." Carissa replied, "It's just like the beginning of that movie…Um…Move Over Darling."_

_"What?" Zach asked confused._

_"It's a movie with Doris Day and Jack Lemmon – No James Garner, sorry. Anyway Doris Day gets stuck on an island for five years until the navy or the marines find her."_

_"And what does this have to do with us?" Jeanette asked._

_"I think they found The Mysterious Island." Carissa stated._

_"What's the mysterious island?" Jeanette asked._

_"It's a fictional island from a book written by Jules Verne. It doesn't exist." Zach replied._

_"But it's the only thing that makes sense!" Carissa argued._

_"Unless they're dead." Zach commented._

_"They would have found bodies." Carissa argued._

_"Not unless they were destroyed." Jeanette retorted._

_"They would have found traces of something, of anything that led to them and they didn't." Carissa argued, "It's like they disappeared into the Twilight Zone and since we have the means to try to find them and whatever they were searching for, I vote we do it. I'm looking for them whether you join me or not."_

_Jeanette and Zach looked at each other and sighed._

_"We're in. What's your plan?" Zach asked._

_"I don't have one yet." Carissa replied._

_"You don't have a plan?" Jeanette asked annoyed._

_"But I have a way of transportation." Carissa replied._

_"That doesn't help if we don't know where we're going." Zach replied._

_"Who says we don't know where we're going?" Carissa said, before taking out the maps from her back pocket._

_"Where'd you get those?" Jeanette asked._

_"Mom and Dad's study, I found it in one of their files." Carissa replied, "It was the only one that wasn't filled._

_Zach looked at the papers, "Cairo?"_

_"Cairo." Carissa nodded, "That's where we start."_

**_Present Day_**

**Carissa's POV**

"How are we getting to Cairo?" Zach asked as we put a plan together to go.

"A friend of mine is a pilot and with a little convincing he'd be willing to help." I replied.

"Which friend?"

"Will Socha." I replied simply.

"William Socha?" Zach asked exasperated, "Dad hated him."

"That's because Dad and Mom found out in a background check that his birth father is Ian Howe."

"Who?" Jeanette asked.

"Someone mom and dad knew a long time ago." Zach replied, "He's currently sitting in Belmarsh Prison in London, England for murder, attempted murder and rape, and organized crime, among other things."

"But that has no influence on Will." I argued, "He's not his father. He's his own person."

"You know what, if you can convince him, he can take us." Jeanette replied, "I have no problems with him.

"Awesome." I replied, "I'll talk to him about it."

Zach and Jeanette went to bed. I lied awake staring at the ceiling figuring out a plane for once we got to Cairo.

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

"What the?" I looked in the direction where the soft noise was coming from.

_Tap._

I got up and went to my balcony window. I opened the curtains to find Will with a handful of pebbles. I opened the window and called out to him, "Are you crazy? It's the middle of the night."

"Come down the trellis, we're gonna celebrate." He said with his british accent dripping out from every word, ignoring, or simply not caring what time it was.

"Celebrate what?"

"I'm an FBI agent!" He replied happily, "I completed my training and was accepted into the Quantico base. I can stay here with you. I'll be a few hours away, but I'll be able to see you."

"Do you know what time it is?" I asked him.

"It's almost one, golden dove." He answered, "Now are you gonna come down or do I hafta come up and get ya myself?"

"I'd like to see that." I said thinking he was joking.

" Alrigh' then." He replied. He went over to the trellis and started to climb up.

"I thought you were kidding." I told him, as I went on to the balcony, watching him climb up. Right as he was about to reach me, one of the vines broke and he lost his footing. I caught him before he fell off and pulled him up to the balcony as much as I could. He got up the rest of the way and climbed over the ledge. "Are you insane? You could have broken your neck, or your spine, or something."

"I wanted you to come with me, and if this is what it takes then, I'm willin' to do it." Will replied, "C'mon, I have somethin' I want ya ta see."

I smiled, "What is it?"

"It's a surprise. I know ya don't like ta be surprised, but you'll like this one. Trust me." He said, back up to the ledge.

"Don't you think I should go first, after what just happened?"

He shook his head. "Not a chance."

"Why?"

"So if ya slip and fall, I'll be able ta catch ya." He replied, as he went over the ledge. He climbed down the trellis. I climbed down afterward. We went over to his bike. He put on his helmet and got on. He handed me a helmet. I put it on and got on. We sped off into the night. Zach and Jeanette would be fine for a few hours.

He drove us down to Rock Creek Park and parked his bike. We walked around the park and stopped at the bridge.

"What did you want to show me?" I asked.

"Oh, right!" Will exclaimed in remembrance, pulling something from his back pocket, "I got this 'ackin' into the confidential files."

"First day on the job and you're already hacking into government files?" I laughed. This was so like him.

"Did it for ya, golden dove." He replied, "Somethin' never set right with me about your parent's death, so I went into the bleedin' computer's main base and looked through sum of the files and I found this."

"Oh my god!"

"Ya don't 'ave ta call me god, ya can just call me Will." He smiled.

I read the papers a few times smiling. I had the proof I needed. I kissed Will's cheek.

"What was that for, golden dove?"

"You're amazing." I told him, "Do you still have that pilot license?"

"Yeah I 'ave it. why?"

"I need you to take me to Cairo."

"Cairo? Why the bloody hell do ya wanna fly ta Cairo for?"

"That was the last place I know where my parents were. I need you to fly us to Cairo."

"Us? Who is us?"

"Me, my siblings, and possibly a team of six other people."

"Six? Six people, Carissa?"

"Yes, six." I replied, "Technically including me and my siblings it would be nine, throw you into the mix and it's a team of ten. It would be you, me, Zach, Jenna, and possibly my cousins Charlotte and Thomas, and maybe my cousins Tristan, Henry, and Elizabeth, and Seth Montgomery."

"I've never flown a plane that big, golden dove, not even in flight school. What makes ya think I can do this?" Will freaked out.

"Because you have a license."

"So ya wanna use me as transport..." He sighed, "I will always help ya in any way I can, golden dove. That's what ya do for the bleedin' people ya care for. I am a tool for ya ta do as ya will."

I hugged him, "Thank you, Will. You're a saint."

"That's questionable given my heritage." Will laughed, "Ya do know there may come a day where I can't help ya. I'll always try, but I never can give ya a guarantee."

"You're honest and you try. That's all that matters." I replied, "We're friends. You know I'd try to do the same for you."

"Right…Mates…" He agreed, "Let's take ya home, golden dove."

"I never got that nickname." I told him, "Is it because of my hair?"

"Nah, I'd call ya golden dove even if ya weren't blonde. It's just a nickname."

"What does it mean?"

"I'll tell ya another time."

"Did I ever tell you how much I love your accent?"

"Nah, I guess ya forgot ta mention it after six bleedin' years."

"Thank you for agreeing." I told him after we got back to my house. "I don't know how I can repay you for this one."

"How about a date?"

"Date?" I asked surprised.

"C'mon Carissa, ya kna 'a I feel about ya, golden dove, and I know how ya feel about me. That hasn't changed in six years. We used ta before-" He started, but then caught himself. He looked down, "Before your parents disappeared..." He stopped and he caressed my cheek lightly, "Don't shut me out, golden dove. Don't shut out the bleedin' world again. This is the first bloomin' time I've seen ya since they were presumed dead. If ya don't wanna date, but know I love ya, golden dove. Your family comes first, I get that. If flyin' ya and everybody else ta Cairo is what it takes, then I'll do it. Date or no date."

I gave him a half smile, "Goodnight, Will."

I went inside.

**Will's POV**

"I pour me bleedin' soul out ter the bloody woman and all I get is a 'goodnight Will'... that's golden dove for ya." I put my helmet back on. '_Where the bloody hell am I gonna get a plane?'_

I got on bike and drove away, unsure of really what to do.

**Carissa's POV**

"Is he gonna do it?"

I turned around to see Zach in his pajamas with his headphones around his neck.

"Go to bed Zach. You've got school in the morning."

"And you've got work, that didn't stop you from gallivanting off with Will."

"Would you shut up, you'll wake Jenna."

"Already past that point." Jeanette said coming out of the kitchen with piece of pie, "He woke me up after you left."

"Zachary!"

"What?" Zach asked, "It's not like either of us are going to school tomorrow."

"You are if I have anything to say about it." I replied.

Zach and Jeanette looked at each other and then looked at me, "You don't."

"Is he worthless or not?" Zach asked.

"Will is not worthless." I retorted, "He'll fly us. He just needs to figure out how to get a plane. And we, we need to get together our team."

"Team?" Zach asked.

"You guys, me, Will, Charlotte, Thomas, Seth, Henry, Elizabeth, and Tristan." I replied, "Which is why you have to go to school."

Charlotte and Thomas were Uncle Ben and Aunt Abigail's kids. They were fraternal twins and were a few months younger than Jeanette. They're parents went missing along with ours. They were living with our cousin Tristan Raleigh. He moved down there to take care of them.

Seth was Aaron and Alyssa Montgomery's son. He was almost a year older than Jeanette and was Zach's best friend. They were in the same grade His family has been friends with ours for years since before we were born. His family went missing with ours. He was the only one left, and was currently living with our cousin Henry Raleigh. He took pity on him and had him come and live with him.

Tristan, Henry, and Elizabeth were Uncle John and Aunt Tess' kids. Tristan was 40 years old and has been working as an environmental studies professor. He gave up working in the national parks when our parents went missing. He was kind of like Dr. Indiana Jones of the science department. Girls took his class just to see him. Henry was 30 years old. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a homicide detective in DC. Elizabeth was 28, against her mother's wishes, she ended up studying business, and opened up a bakery in Woodley Park called 'Baking Love', she wanted to call 'Burnin' Love', but I convinced her it wasn't such a hot idea, but she does use the Wynonna Judd version of the song quite a bit in her bakery and in advertising. I've been working with her in the bakery for the past three years. She comes in and checks in on us every once in a while as well. It's like each one of them took a special interest in us.

Zach sighed, "I'll talk to Seth tomorrow."

"I'll talk to Lottie and Tommy." Jeanette added.

"Great, go to bed." I told them. They rolled their eyes and went to bed.

I looked at the clock, it was quarter to two. I groaned, I had to get up in a couple of hours. What was the point in sleeping? I went to the kitchen and went to mother's tea cabinet. I always kept it stocked as an honor to her. I had all of her favorites. I had jasmine oolong tea, spiced mandarin, raspberry, hibiscus, peppermint, spearmint, chai (vanilla and ruby red), chamomile, earl grey, green tea, apple cider, mint medleys, different zingers, peach, English breakfast…We have all of the Tevanna and Tazo teas. Honestly when it came to tea, you name it, we've got it.

I looked at all of the different teas, pulled out a bag from the spiced mandarin and put it back, "I miss you…Both of you…"

I made myself a cup and then went to bed for a bit.


	2. Chapter 2: Enlisting Help

**An: This chapter is dedicated to Musical Cake. Thanks for all of the help.**

**Chapter Two: Enlisting Help**

After I dropped Zach and Jeanette off, I headed to the bakery. As I went inside I could hear music resounding throughout the shop.

"Your kisses lift me higher

Like the sweet song of a choir

You light my morning sky

With burning love" I could hear Elizabeth in the kitchen singing along with the song. She played it every morning. It was part of her get jazzed mix. It got her awake and ready to face the customers and she loved to when she baked.

"Carrie!" She exclaimed, happy to see me, "Grab a pan. You can decorate."

"How are you up this early?" I asked as she sang along with the song.

"Morning person!" She said in a sing-song way, "Sing with me!"

I grabbed a pan of cookies and a pan of cupcakes and set them on the decorating table. I went towards the shelf of different decorative items, singing along with the song,

"Cause your kisses lift me higher

Like a sweet song of a choir

You light my morning sky

With burning love"

**Zach's POV**

"I've got a better idea, I'll talk to Seth and you talk to the twins. Tommy looks up to you anyway and whatever Tommy does, Lottie does." Jeanette said as we walked in side. Before I could say anything, she said, "Great, glad you agree. See ya." She left to go find Seth.

"Okay…" I commented watching her go. I went to go find Thomas and Charlotte. They were most likely in the cafeteria with a deck of cards tricking other people out of their money. Thomas loved mind games and Charlotte was a card shark. Together, they made about fifteen to twenty bucks in singles and chump change every morning without being caught.

"Alright, break it up." I said shooing the crowd, "Mr. Dagenhart is coming. If he sees you two gambling again, you'll actually get detention this go around."

The crowd dispersed and I grabbed the deck and started to shuffle, "Here's the deal, you two. You're coming to Cairo with my siblings and I. We're gonna go on a treasure hunt and try to find our parents. You're going to talk to Tristan tonight, enlist his help; and then tomorrow instead of going to school, you'll be meeting at my house. Got it?"

They nodded.

"Oh and I'm taking these for the time being." I said referring to the cards, placing them in their case, and then pocketing them and walking away. It's their lucky deck. They wouldn't be playing for a while; they don't have anything to play with.

**Jeanette's POV**

I went to Seth's class to see if he was in there. He was the only person in the classroom. He was reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. "Hey you."

He looked up from his book. When he saw it was me, he smiled, "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I have a proposition for you."

"I'm not saving anymore frogs or mice from the science department for you. I already served enough time in detention for stealing those. I think spending three months after school and getting lectured by Henry-"

"Seth, Seth, it has nothing to do with science department." I stopped him.

"It doesn't?"

"No."

"Am I gonna get in trouble?"

"Only for truancy."

"Truancy?" Seth replied confused, "That's a federal crime."

"One of the first if we do this."

"Do what?"

"How would you like to find your family?"

"Where are we going and when do we leave?"

"Cairo. There's a team of us meeting tonight at my house to discuss this. Talk to Henry and bring him along. We've got a pilot, and putting a team together we just need a plan."

"I'll be there."

"Good." I replied and then left to go to the library before class. There were some things I needed to look into if we were going to Cairo. Maybe I could find something that they might have been looking for. Maybe a legend, a myth, anything that would have given us a hint. First place that I should probably look into is Egyptology. They were called to go to Cairo. Dad's sister had found a clue there, so obviously it had something to do with Egypt, unless it was just buried in Egypt. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.  
**Carissa's POV**

"Lizzie," I said to get her attention as I put the decorated sweets in the display case.

"Yeah?"

"How long can you close down the bakery without it affecting your business?" I asked her not knowing how to approach the subject of taking her and her siblings to Cairo.

"What?" She looked at me like I was insane. She turned off the music. "Sit. I'm getting us hot chocolate and you're going to explain what you just asked and why you asked that."

Before I could say anything she already went into the back. I grabbed one of the cupcakes that didn't turn out as nicely and sat down.

"Okay, cinnamon and chili powder for you and dark chocolate and amaretto for me." She said coming over and setting down the mugs.

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking?" I asked surprised at her selection.

"No, sweetie, if I'm going to hear nonsense about closing down my bakery, I'm going to drink."

"You didn't want to share?"

"No. You have people to look after, I don't."

"So says the woman who claimed to be my 'gaurdian'."

"Please share the reason why I'm closing down my bakery and need to be drinking at eight in the morning."

"Because we're going to Cairo."

"Oh great. Are we going to Wonderland too?" She replied sarcastically. Baking Love was her home. She never closed down.

"You, me, your brothers, Zach, Jenna, Charlotte, Thomas, Seth, and Will-"

"Will?" She asked. "Like Will Socha, Will?"

"Yes."

"William Michael Socha , Will?"

"Yes." I replied getting a little peeved.

"You're speaking to him again?" She asked surprised. I rolled my eyes, "No, no that's good. You speaking to people outside of work and family is always great to hear. How did that go about-"

"Not what we're supposed to be talking about and has literally nothing to do with why we're going to Cairo."

"Why are we going to Cairo?"

"We're going to look for our parents."

"It's been three years. They're dead, give up already. I have."

"What would your dad say if he heard you talking like that?" I asked her, "Well that and drinking at this time in the morning?"

She laughed, "The man put Kahlua in his morning coffee, I think he'd be okay with me drinking amaretto early in the morning."

"He put Kahlua in his coffee, why?"

"I always thought it was how he handled my mother. As they say a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."

"That's awful." I stopped myself from laughing, "Your mother isn't that bad. And what happened to respect for the dead?"

"You think they're alive, so all respect goes out the window." She replied, "Now why do you think they're alive again?"

"They never found any traces of a body or anything linking to them. I say we go to Cairo and find whatever they were looking for. If we find it, we find them. It's as simple as that."

"Or die trying." She replied, feigning enthusiasm.

I sighed, "Just come to my house tonight."

"You got it." She replied, "Ready to open?"

"Let's get this show on the road."

"Pack your bags, Crikee, we're going to Cairo!"

"Okay…" I replied confused, "Enough of that for you." I took her mug and headed behind the counter. After a bit, she followed behind me.


	3. Chapter 3: What's in a Name?

**AN: This is a little bit of a filler chapter, next chapter will discuss a little more important things and then off to Cairo. This chapter is dedicated to Musical Cake and Lucky Girl 81. **

**Happy reading!**

**Chapter Three: What's in a name?**

"You sure this meeting is a good idea?" Will asked me, listening to the crowd of bickering people at the table from the kitchen, "I've never heard so much racket in my life."

"We need them."

"Your parents found the first treasure with only four people." He pointed out.

"Yes, were older and had more-"

"Your parents were only few years older than we are, if I heard the story right. And they had no real experience in treasure hunting."

"No, they had two history gurus, an FBI agent, and a computer and technological genius." I argued, "Unfortunately, we don't have that."

"We have two FBI agents-"

"One of them is new and hasn't passed his firearms exam."

He shrugged, "I don't like guns anyway. We have a computer and technological genius in your brother. We have Jeanette who's just a brain in general. Seth, well I don't know much about Seth, but I'm sure he has some type of talent that would be useful. Tristan, he's a forester and an archeologist, he knows things about land and other sciency matters that will become handy. Elizabeth, there's gotta be something about her that's handy. Maybe her people skills will come of use." He pointed out most of them people's uses, "You're right, we do need most of them."

"And me? What can I contribute? I'm no brain or computer genius. I was never very talented at science. Nor am I an agent."

"There's more to you than you think. You're the reason we're all here, don't go doubting yourself now."

"What are they arguing about now?" I asked changing the subject.

"Uh, well Tristan and Elizabeth are arguing about the possibility of our venture being sane and plausible. Elizabeth, with a little brandy, seems to be on our side. You keep brandy in the house?"

"No, it's hers. At the first possible chance, swipe it from her without her noticing."

"Got it." Will nodded, "Anyway, Tristan seems to be a skeptic, but goes along with it for Thomas and Charlotte's benefit; who seem to be arguing with Seth and Zach about what's in Cairo. Henry and Jeanette seem to be birds of feather watching the transactions go on and discussing the options of code names that could be plausible for each member of the team, I think their conversation is the most worthwhile to listen to."

"What have they got?"

"Henry called Kirk for himself. They both agreed on Indy for Tristan. Ender for Seth, that one was proposed by Jeanette, who knows maybe he's good at strategy. They decided Flick for Zach. Who's Flick, is he character that I should know about?"

"He's from A Bug's Life; it's an old Pixar movie. He was an inventor, not a very successful one, but still an inventor nonetheless."

"That makes sense. Knave for me, which I don't get at all."

"Probably like Knave of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland."

"Huh, I don't see it. I would have thought something like Hawkeye would be more suitable. They've got nothing for you yet, you know."

"Then go put your two cents in."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, get to know them and give your thoughts on the different arguments."

"But they don't-"

"They will, just go and talk to them."

"Right." He nodded, and went out to join them.

**Will's POV**

"Knave?" I asked Jeanette and Henry.

"Knave, as Knave of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland-"

"And Once Upon a Time in Wonderland." Henry added.

"You watch Once?" Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Jeanette asked surprised.

Henry shrugged, "It's a clusterfuck of fanfiction. It's entertaining."

"Why Knave though?"

"Henry suggested it." Jeanette replied, looking at Henry.

"You remind me of the dude from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland." Henry replied nonchalantly, "His name's Will too."

"Alrighty then." I nodded, "Wouldn't aliases make more sense to have than code names?"

"Actually it makes more sense to have both, so we never have to use our own names. If we never use our real names and only use cash, we won't acquire as many problems with the law as our parents did." Jeanette replied, "Zach has last say on the code names because he is the one who is mostly going to use them. Carissa has the final say on the aliases because-"

"She's the reason we're going on this venture." Elizabeth cut in.

"If you don't want to go, the door's that way." Seth replied. Henry lightly smacked him on the back of the head.

"What was that for?" Seth asked annoyed.

"You were being rude."

"If she doesn't want-"

"She's here and she's going with us." Henry stated. Seth groaned.

"You knew she was coming, Seth." Zach commented, coming out of his argument with Charlotte. "And Carissa's codename is Red. Henry you can keep Kirk, fits you anyway. Indy and Ender are fine as well. Wolf for Will, instead of Knave or Hawkeye, it goes along better with Red."

"Wolf like the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood?" I asked him.

He ignored me and continued, "Lizard for Jeanette, since you two are so fond of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland and Alice in Wonderland."

"Lizard? I don't even get a semi real name?" Jeanette asked.

"At least you didn't get the villain of your story. My code name's a villain." I replied.

"Show of hands how many people here are related to a criminal?" Thomas commented.

"Uh, most of the people in this room if you go by technicality." I replied.

"Yes, but your father is the only one who is sitting in prison right now." Charlotte retorted

I rolled my eyes. "And he is the Darth Vader to my Luke. I don't even know the man."

"Shut up, who cares what his father did. He's not him." Zach defended me and went on with his list, "Cadpig for Charlotte."

"I'm sorry, did you just call me Cadpig?" Charlotte questioned a little annoyed.

"Dipstick for Thomas."

"Not cool, man." Thomas commented.

"Tink for Elizabeth."

"Thank you, Zach." Elizabeth commented, happy with her code name.

"And if any of you call me Flick, I'll fry your computer databases and render them useless. My codename, since I have the final say, is going to be Tron." Zach finished, "Oh and don't bother asking to change your codenames. They're not changing."

"Now let's get the aliases down while we're at it." Carissa said, coming out with the food, "We're going to do this quick because this is the least important thing we should be talking about. Tristan, your alias is Milo Thatch, you're a scientist that works for Henry's character."

"I'm guessing I should watch Atlantis to learn more about who I am."

"Maybe." Carissa replied, "Henry, your alias is Nicolas "Nick" Devereaux."

"Am I a wealthy French person?" Henry asked.

"You're of French heritage, but your family is half American and you have a billion dollar company. Fill in the blanks from there." Carissa replied, "Elizabeth, you are Roxanne McCoy. You work for Nicolas Devereaux as his personal assistant like Pepper Potts is to Tony Stark without the relationship part. Zach and Seth, you are Oliver and Terrence Thatch. Zach, you're Oliver and Seth, you're Terrence. You guys are Milo's fraternal twin sons. You two don't go to high school, you graduated early and are taking a couple of years off before you go to college and are working with your father. Jeanette, you are Olivia Devereaux, Nicolas Devereaux's daughter."

"I was a teen dad too?" Henry asked.

"Your dad was." Carissa replied, "Charlotte and Thomas, you are Jane and Michael Banks. Your parents are on an expedition in South Africa and are in the charge of Mr. Devereaux."

"So really they're in the charge of Roxanne?" Henry asked.

"Oh yeah, you're rich, you don't take care of your own kids." Carissa replied, "So yeah, Roxanne gets the kids…Will, you're Jake Kelley. You're an Australian archeologist, with a specialty in artifacts and treasure. Bodies creep you out."

"I'm an Aussie?" I asked her confused.

She nodded, "You better start working on the accent." She smiled and then finished, "I am Anna Kelley. I'm married to Jake. I'm American. I'm Nicolas' half-sister. The group of us are working to find a treasure and starting off in Cairo."

"We're married?" I asked her surprised.

"No other way I could fit us both in the character plot." She replied nonchalantly.

"I don't have a ring for you." I told her.

"It's okay. I have one; I just have to get it." She replied, going upstairs.

**Carissa POV**

I went into my parent's room.

"Wow…" I said going into the room and turning on the light. It was very rare that any of it went in here. The room hadn't changed since they left for Cairo. I went to mom's jewelry case. It was like a mini wardrobe and opened the top drawer and found her engagement ring. I tried it on for size. It fit perfectly.

"Guess I found my wedding ring." I said to myself softly, closing the drawer and the case. I stood, walked out of the room, turned off the light, and went back down stairs.


	4. Chapter 4: Ways to Make It Work

**AN: Hey, everyone sorry it took so long for this chapter. I've been a little busy. I get off vacation tomorrow. **

**This chapter is short and is dedicated to Musical Cake, KatnissEverWeasley, Guin Parris, and Candyland0530**

**Chapter Four: Ways to Make It Work**

"Alright, since we have that covered, now let's get on to business." I said going back into the dining room, to see everyone basically stuffing their face more or less. "Will, were you able to procure a plane?"

"Uh, yeah." He replied, off guard, "Got a friend who owed me a favor. He's letting me borrow the plane."

"Okay." I nodded and then looked at Zach, "Zach, are you ready to go, do you have everything you're going to need?"

"I raided some of dad's things in the office, and found he left some of his equipment behind. I updated it, enhanced it, and toyed with it a little and now they're fully functioning and improved. Those gadgets combined with mine, I have everything I need as far as I'm aware. Anything else I might need, I'll have to put together as we go."

"Do you have the things you need to do that?"

"I have the basics, but I won't know until it has to be put together what I need at that specific time." Zach replied, "And don't try to argue with me on that, you will lose."

"Got it." I told him, holding back the argument I was going to make. We didn't have time to argue. I looked at the twins, "Thomas, Charlotte, got everything handled on your end?"

"Yeah, but I still can't believe what you're asking us to do."

"You're skilled and children, no one's going to suspect they're being cheated." I replied, "Information only. Don't collect money, try to keep it legal."

They both nodded.

"Henry, everything tied up on your end?"

"There won't be any agent chasing after us. I made sure of it. We have a solid cover and everything arranged to make them think we all went on a trip to Disney World. Will is coming along because he's going to propose."

"Great, you've basically picked the most expensive vacation and put a time limit on us."

"Time limit?" Henry asked.

"We've got two weeks to do this, unless Disney World has drastically changed the most you can do up to a two week vacation."

"Opps." Henry replied sheepishly.

"So, we've gotta go possibly around the world in 14 days and we don't know where we're headed." I mulled over it, "Do you actually have the trip registered with Disney? Maybe we should do that instead."

"We can go after we find our parents." Jeanette replied, "We can do this in two weeks. We have a bigger group which means it'll be quicker for us to find things. It is possible, we just may have to work a little harder at it. And you, Henry, Elizabeth, and Tristian have all been on this type of quest and you'll be able to instruct the rest of us what to do. We've got subgroups, which is something our parents really didn't have. Henry and I are teaming up, sometimes I'll be paired with Elizabeth, Charlotte and Thomas and Henry will be on his own. You and Will are pairing up. Tristan, Zach, and Seth are grouping off. Sometimes Zach and Seth will be on their own and sometimes it'll be Charlotte and Thomas on their own. But we've got ways to make it work. We're not backing out of this now."

"Everything clear on your end, Lizzie?" I asked her, moving on with business.

"Bakery's closed and I've got all the tools to change our appearances. Hair dye, clothes, etc."

"Hair dye?" Will asked, "Why would we need hair dye?"

"To change our appearances." I replied simply, "Which we're going as soon as possible."

"I was planning on doing it tonight." Elizabeth replied, "Since we're all here."

"How early can we leave?" I asked Will.

"Tomorrow?" Will replied, "Really we can leave as soon as you want. We packin' before we go?"

Everyone looked to me, almost asking the same question.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." I replied, "Pack a little of everything and if we need anything else we'll buy it. Leave all credit cards here or at home. Henry, you are to have disposable cell phones for all of use by tomorrow. We leave tomorrow night for Cairo."


End file.
